What a relief! Milford man helps storm victims

His 1963 Beechcraft Musketeer, Model 23, soared over the Long Island Sound on a "picture perfect day." The 25-foot aircraft glided toward Republic Airport in East Farmingdale, N.Y., with precious cargo, making good time and its pilot thoroughly enjoying himself. Up about 4,500 feet in a halcyon sky, Wayne Hansen was on a m...

His 1963 Beechcraft Musketeer, Model 23, soared over the Long Island Sound on a "picture perfect day."

The 25-foot aircraft glided toward Republic Airport in East Farmingdale, N.Y., with precious cargo, making good time and its pilot thoroughly enjoying himself.

Up about 4,500 feet in a halcyon sky, Wayne Hansen was on a mission, complete with a special radio call: "compassion flight N2343L."

Somewhere in Staten Island, thousands of children uprooted by Hurricane Sandy needed the winter coats, blankets and food secured in the bags crowding Hansen’s already-cramped cabin.

After the storm devastated the East Coast, the Milford resident learned of an Arizona-based charity, Aerobridge, organizing supply runs to Republic Airport, located about 15 miles east of the larger John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens.

Turns out, one of Hansen’s pilot buddies, Graeme Smith, was coordinating the missions. He told Smith, a native of Scotland, to sign him up for the Nov. 9 flight.

It would mark Hansen’s longest — and most poignant — flight.

The 69-year-old retired engineer took up flying planes as a hobby in high school and he continued as a student pilot in college. But pursuing a private pilot’s license costs a lot, time and money, so a young Hansen had to truncate his budding hobby.

Fast forward to 2002, a marriage and three sons later, Hansen redeemed a $50 coupon for flying lessons, to see if, maybe, just maybe, he has the will and the want to try for his license a second time.

"For me," he said, "it was, ‘Do I really want to do this again?’"

So did he?

"After 30 minutes, I was hooked," he said.

Hansen would earn his license a year later. In 2006, he bought his first plane, an all-white Beechcraft Musketeer with beige and coffee stripes that stretch from propeller to rudder.

Aerobridge’s relief effort was a good fit for Hansen.

He’s a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, a support branch of the Coast Guard. He volunteers at the senior center in Milford and assists the animal control officer through the town’s property tax work-off program.

In short, Hansen stays active and is charitable with his time.

As a Christian, he said, he feels an obligation to help people. As a retiree, though, he fears turning into a "couch potato."

"To be honest, a person can get a little bored when you are not working eight hours a day," he said.

Regional Airport was a bustle of vehicles and aircraft on the picturesque Friday that Hansen arrived. He had departed for what would be a smooth hour-and 15-minute trip from Newport State Airport in Rhode Island.

Flying out front, Smith, Hansen’s flying pal, made the journey, too, in his Cessna.